Good Samaritan Shot, Now Leading Charge For More Police

Good Samaritan Shot, Now Leading Charge For More Police

Elijah Mondy is a religious man, and believes in the power of helping others. As he was driving home from a shopping trip with his wife one night in late-April, he saw a man in the street who appeared to be badly beaten.

HELENA, AR (localmemphis.com) - Elijah Mondy is a religious man, and believes in the power of helping others.

As he was driving home from a shopping trip with his wife one night in late-April, he saw a man in the street who appeared to be badly beaten.

"He was begging and pleading that he didn't want to die," said Mondy.

Mondy says he called 911 as he told his wife to circle the block.

As they returned, the man started staggering towards their car.

"As soon as the door opened - POW! - and I felt my whole back and shoulder burning," Mondy said.

He had been shot in the chest.

He says as soon as the gun went off, he saw at least two other guys with rifles jump out from behind a nearby bush.

His wife saw them too, and stepped on the gas, as she rushed him to a nearby hospital.

"Chivalry is not dead but right now you just can't do good deeds for anyone because you put yourself in harms way," said Helena Police Chief Uless Wallace.

For Wallace, these have been tough times.

Since becoming Police Chief in September 2011, he has seen is force go from 40 full-time police officers to 21 as the department has dealt with severe budget cuts.

"I haven't hired a full time officer in over 16 months," he said.

Wallace has had to get creative about policing while balancing being proactive in the community.

"It is putting a strain on patrolling," he said. "Oh, it is a stressful situation. Trust me."

"My trademark words are let's apply pressure." Wallace added. "The numbers are small, but you got to apply pressure and if we apply pressure and be very, very effective in the amount we are applying, we should get some results."

Mondy says he thinks his nightmare proves the need for more officers.

"We have to have more officers patrolling," he said. "We shouldn't have this problem, this isn't like trying to cover Memphis."

Mondy says he'll take his fight to Helena's next City Council meeting on Tuesday.

He also vows to continue helping others.

"In the Scriptures it talks about the Good Samaritan, all of my life when I've seen people stranded, seen people needing help, I will always stop because of what He said," Mondy said.

"My Christian beliefs that I am supposed to stop and help this man. Even if it is risky to do it," Mondy said. "I'm blessed to be alive."

Copyright 2013 localmemphis.com Nexstar Broadcasting, All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.